Lincoln Home’s Steve Raymond, Director of Admissions and Community Outreach and Lynn Norgang, Executive Director. Photo: Kim Traina

LCTV hosted Lincoln Home colleagues, Steve Raymond and Lynn Norgang, to create a new “Spotlight on Seniors” episode. The focus of this show is to help seniors, families, and community members understand more about memory loss and dementia. The onset of dementia can affect our families and our friends, our colleagues and our neighbors, and may come to affect us individually. Cognitively, it changes how people think, act, their perception of time, and their ability to care for themselves. Lincoln Home is strongly motivated to teach others how to improve the lives of people with dementia who are out and about in our community by helping them to feel safe, secure and treated with dignity.

Several anonymous stories of residents were shared to demystify the stigma associated with dementia. Memory loss is not a mental illness. Understanding the disease process and learning communication strategies can raise the consciousness of our community and help us collectively treat those with cognitive impairment with empathy.

The model of caregiving at Lincoln Home, for all residents, is based on the “Best Friend’s Approach.” As in a best friend relationship, we take the time to learn as much as we can about our residents’ likes, family, career and history. We build relationships and create a feeling of family, and use skillful communication based on an understanding of the dementia disease process.

This approach is invaluable for those suffering from memory loss, creating a sense of security, structure, empathy and positive reinforcement. Assisted living residents with some level of cognitive impairment often improve by being in a community environment with structure, social connection, proper nutrition, medication management, and compassionate care.

Learning helpful communication skills sets up a win/win environment by reducing anxiety and building bridges for a positive outcome. People with dementia are struggling to hang on to their dignity and sense of control. Often, a caregiver hears, “I want to go home.” Home, to someone with dementia, does not necessarily mean a place, but more a state of mind, back to when their world made sense and they were in control. Positive diversion and redirection can help move someone from sadness to feeling joyful in the present moment, which is the very basis of the art of memory loss caregiving.

Executive director Lynn Norgang, shared, “Caregiving is a privilege and an honor. We receive far more than we give each and every day. We are so appreciative of our staff who go above and beyond to ensure each resident is treated with dignity, compassion and kindness.”

Towns and cities across our nation are embracing the concept of “Dementia Friendly Communities.” The Lincoln Home is advocating for all businesses, town officials and community leaders to participate in efforts to create a Dementia Friendly Lincoln County. On May 8 and May 15, from 1:30 – 3:30, Lincoln Home is offering free customer service training to local banks, shops, stores, restaurants and other places of business. Employees will learn skills to help understand and communicate compassionately to customers with dementia.

A separate set of free classes in communication skills is also being offered for family caregivers of people with dementia.

The LCTV Spot Light on Seniors show can be viewed starting Thursday, April 11 at 6:30pm, then continuing to air at revolving time slots, or view on-line: http://lctv.org/spotlight-on-seniors-dementia/

To sign up for one of the workshops, or to learn more about family caregiver classes, contact Steve Raymond, 563-3350 or steve@lincoln-home.org. The Lincoln Home is located at 22 River Road, Newcastle.

In the 1990’s, Deborah Gould bought an old two-story farmhouse in East Pittston. The history of the home brought her to Joel Thompson, who bought the land in 1811 and whose descendants owned the property for the next 100 years. Both fiction and social history, Deborah’s novels, The Eastern, I & II,  explore the themes of community, working together for the common good, and solid New England concepts we seem to have lost along the way. Join Deborah on Monday, March 18, from 3:00-4:00pm.

On Monday, March 11, from 3:00-4:00pm, Engineer, Edward Polewarczyk will give a talk on NASA’s Space Shuttle Program.In 2004, after the 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle disaster, Ed became NASA’s Director of Orbiter Production and Operations. His presentation includes a description of a typical shuttle flight; from vehicle preparation through launch, flight, entry and landing. We will learn about the experiences of astronauts, activities throughout the mission, an explanation of the support activity, and daily operations at mission control.

Join Michael Perry, Monday, March 4, 3:00-4:00pm, for a beautiful slide program capturing the 2nd half of a summer of a lifetime in the Great Land.  Part I, which Michael shared at the Lincoln Home three years ago, left us off in Valdez.  From here we take the Alaska Marine Ferry to Whittier and explore Kenai Peninsula.   We will take a boat ride to see Portage Glacier, fish for halibut in Cook Inlet, watch the dip netters snag salmon along the beaches below Kenai, admire the volcanic splendor of Mt Redoubt, a snow-covered volcano across Cook Inlet, and explore the four-mile-long eyebrow of sand known as Homer spit. 

After much debate at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, the attendees approved the concept behind the impeachment of government officials.  Join us Tuesday, March 5, from 2:00 – 3:00pm to hear Jerry’s talk on impeachment. 

Carolyn Hardman will give an illustrated talk about Joseph Hopkins, a Newcastle/Nobleboro merchant ship captain on Tuesday, January 15, from 3:00-4:00pm. The height of Maine’s wooden ship era took place in the mid 1800’s, when the US led the world in ocean trade and shipbuilding. Much of that shipbuilding and commerce was centered in Midcoast Maine. A collection of Captain Hopkins’ journals are on display at the Nobleboro Historical Society.The Lincoln Home is located at 22 River Road, Newcastle.  For more information, please contact Rhonda Hanna, 563-3350, or rhonda@lincoln-home.org. Visit our website, www.lincoln-home.org  and follow us on Facebook for photos and events of daily life at The Lincoln Home.